Setting a New Goal

The only way to grow is through creating and achieving goals... Ok, maybe not. You can stumble around in the dark and through luck, possibly accomplish something. But I think setting and working toward goals might be a better way over time.

I have been writing now for a while. I self-published my first novel length book in November of 2019... and my second three days later. To be fair, they were written and mostly edited to be the same book, but at almost 200,000 words, they needed to be separated into two books.

But even before that, I wrote. I actually wrote a lot. For a long time. My first blog post that I can find is dated June 14th, 2007. Over the next half dozen years I churned out hundreds of posts. I actually expanded to personally posting to four different blogs... Two were real estate related, one was real estate and social media tech, and the final one was about cars. Some had daily posts five or seven days a week, others had posts Mon/Wed/Fri or Tues/Thurs/Sat. For a period of years, I was easily popping out close to a thousand blog posts a year.

Until I stopped.

I took a break because I was burning out. Even the car blog, which I loved, weighed on my mind. Coming up with fresh content that wasn't already everywhere was taxing. I digress.

My break ended up being the end. Until it wasn't.

Since college, I have been an avid reader. Getting a tablet and Kindle app only accelerated that. And because I was reading a lot, I decided to read a lot of free or cheap books. Often, they were classics that were in the public domain. But not always.

After reading a particularly weak book (it was a freebie, offered up on a Kindle promo) I decided I could do better. So... I put my money where my mouth was... ok, no money, and I hadn't talked about it... and sat down to write a book. Then another. Now there are six in that series, and two other stand-alones.

Which brings me back to the goal.

I want to make money from writing. Consistently. Month after month. Not just enough for a kid's meal at the local fast food joint, but enough to impact the bottom line.

$100. In a month.

Now, I have well surpassed making a hundred dollars from my books. But I haven't sold a hundred dollars in a month. No, that is not my final and forever goal. It is an intermediate goal. A step. A resting place on the way to something better.

But it will still be a climb. It's about 50 books. Not quite two a day. I've sold more than two a day. I given away more than a thousand in a weekend. That doesn't count. I want to average at least a couple of books a day for over a month.

You can help... in fact, without your help, it can't happen. I want people to read my books, not just buy them. And review them. And (hopefully) enjoy them.

I'm going to do something I haven't really done much of. I'm going to market my books. This is a big step. And it is one that could see me falling flat on my face. But, no risk, no reward.

Here is my Amazon Author page. You can see all of my current books there.

My first book was Planning Vengeance. It introduced the Dixon-Prince series. If you want to jump in with both feet, that would be the place to start. The follow-up... where the story concluded, was Dig Two Graves.

The third book was You Don't Know Jack. We dived further into the lives on Jack and Amy Dixon, as well as those around them.

The fourth book was Who, What, When, Why?. It is kind of clean-up batting the Dixon-Prince series to this point. There are a bunch of short stories that show what else was happening. We find out how Terry Gates because Dirk Bryce, how Amy and Jack got married, and how Paul Murphy ended... along with some other side stories. It was actually written before, around and after You Don't Know Jack.

The fifth book in the Dixon-Prince saga was Grafton. It contains four novellas. Two with Gunny Grafton at the center, one with Melody Grafton, and one with Mali Grafton... who is introduced in the book, too.

Finally, Unknown Caller, the sixth book in the series. It leaps into 2021, pandemic and all. I don't think it will be the last of the Dixon-Prince books, not even the last of those centered around Jack and Amy. But, we are introduced to Colt Dixon, their son, and seeming heir to the saga.

Outside of the Dixon-Prince series my first title was Triple Cross. It is a story of deep fakes, deep state and deep covers. Aside from the action and intrigue, there is a love triangle, tested friendships, and unknown family connections.

My other non-Dixon-Prince title is Lies and Omissions. We do have a couple of cameos from some Dixon-Prince favorites, but this story centers around Nick Tower and Linda Keller. Nick is a popular employee and heartthrob from the local skating rink. Linda is a beautiful divorcee with a mysterious past... and a daughter with a crush on Nick. She knows she shouldn't be attracted to him, but she can't help it. And then her ex tries to throw a wrench in her way.

All of the titles are available on Kindle Unlimited... and I will still make a little if you read them there, too... so by all means, if you have access there, give them a read for free.

And know that I appreciate your support. All of the sharing, liking, and following... as well as subscribing to my blog... help get me to my goal. And that will help me write more books.

Thank you.